Tie-tamping machine.



W, L. PIERCE.

TIE TAMPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 30. 1915.

Patentd Apr. 25, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

W. L FiERCE.

TIE TAMPmG MASHINE,

APFLICAT N FILEU NOV. 30, X515.

lafeni '51 Apr. 25, 1916.

2 SHEETS SHEET 2.

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WALTER L. PIERCE, 01: GALESBURG, ILLINOIS.

TIE-TAMPING MACHINE.

Speeifieation of Letters Patent.

ltatented Apr. 25, 191i Application filed November 30, 1915. Serial No. 64,264.

To all whom it may con fern:

lie it known that l. Nanrnn' l1. Punzcn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of (lalesburg, in the county of Knox and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful 'lic-Tamping l'l achine, ol? which the following is a specification.

hly invention relates to machines for tamping the ballast at the sides of and underneath railway tics.

()ne of the objects i machine adapted to accomplish the indicated operation elliciently and with great rapidity.

.\nother object is to provide for self-propulsion of the machine.

A further object is to tamp the ballast simultaneously at both sides of a tie.

Minor objects will presently appear. Home of these will be obvious and others specifically pointed out.

The principal end and object of the inven tion may therefore be said to be to generally improve the construction and to increase the capacity, utility and ellieieney of devices of this nature.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention: Figure 1 is a side elevation, one of the tl-acka-ails artly broken away and the proximal block 9 not shown; Fig. '2, an enlarged detail of the geanshift mechanism; Fig. 3, an enlarged detail of one of the yielding legs and parts cooperating therewith; Fig. 4, a top plan of the rear frame and the elements carried thereby; Fig. 5, an enlarged' 'detail, showing especially the shaftbearings and means for supporting them; and Fig. 3, an enlarged detail of the center bearing-block.

Considering said drawings in detail and referring to eaclrelement and, where necessary, to each part thereof, by a distinguishing numeral, uniformly en'iployed, 2, 2 indicate railway rails secured on ties 3 by the usual spikes 4.

5, 5 indicate track-wheels mounted on an axle 6 operating each in a journal-box 7 sustaincd by a frame-box 8.

8' designates a centrally arranged frame bar.

9, 9 indicate bearing-blocks secured each by bolts 10 to one of the bars 8.

11. indicates a centrally arranged bearingbloek secured by bolts 12 to the bar 13, 1 5 designate journal-boxes suitably mounted on and secured to the blocks 9.

s to provide a portable Each oppositely arranged pair of the boxes 13 receives the ends of a multiple-crank shaft 14, 14f the middle crank-arm 14: of each'of which is mounted in a bearing-box 15 secured on the block 11. The arms of the shafts 14,14are oppositely arranged, whereby when one rising the other is descendin Therefore, for the purposes of this speeification each of said crank-shafts will, at times, be tcrmeda compound multiple crankshaft, in order to distinguish from a mul' tiple cra.nl-:-shaft in which all the arms are directed alike.

16 designates a drive-shaft one end of which is mounted in a bearing 17 secured on one of the blocks 9, its other end mounted in a bearing 18 in the center-block 11, and 19 indicates a like drive-shaft mounted in a bearing 20 in the other block 9 and in the bearing 18.

21 indicates a shaft mounted at its ends in bearings 22 in the blocks 9 and at its midlength in a. bearing 23 in the block 11.

23 designates a shaft the ends of which are mounted in bearings 24 in the frame bars 8 and its midlength in a bearing 25 in the bar 8, as shown clearly in Figs. 5 and 6.

Mounted by means of a spline 26, to slide longitudinally of and to rotate with the shaft 16 is a drive-pinion 27 adapted, by

means of a shift-yoke 28, to be thrown into or out of engagement with a crank-shaftdriving spur 29 fixed on the shaft 14; and mounted by means of a spline 30, to slide longitudinally of and to rotate with the shaft 19 is a drive-pinion 31 adapted, by means of a shiftyoke 32, to be thrown into or out of engagement with a crank-shaftdriving spur 33 fixed on/the shaft 14:. Now see Fig. 3. On each arm 34 of the crank shafts 14, 14 is mounted a journal-box 35 provided with an internally threaded socket :56 which is engaged. by the foot of a connecting-rod 37 the headed end of which seats in a tubular leg 38 provided with a top having an axially arranged central aperture of sullicient size to permit movement of the rod 37 but snlliciently small to retain the headed end of said rod. 39 indicates a coil spring embracing sa id rods and arranged intermediate said socket and leg. The spring is shown in said ligure. as fully compressed. it will be noted that the legs. because of being mon uled in the compound or opl'iositelydirecteil-arm shal'ls 'l l, 14, will be in sets, each set rising as the other descends.

' nating danger of breakage.

claimed herein,

' one of the feet 43 strike the tie Pivoted to oscillate on the shaft 21 is a series of rocker-links 40, the outer end of each of which is pivotally connected to the lower end of one of the legs 38 by means of a pin 41 or in any other suitable manner. The upper end of a curved tamping-bar 42 is pivotally connected, by means of one of the pins 41, to each of said legs, and each bar is provided with a transversely arranged foot Pivotally mounted on the shaft 23 is a series of rocker-links 44, their outer ends pivotally connected. at 45 each to one of said bars Preferablyathe links 40 and 44 are arranged in parallelism, for a purpose pres ently described.

21 designates spacers on the shaft 21, and 23 indicates spacers on the shaft 23*.

Pivoted at 46 to the frame-bars 8 are the side-bars 47 of a tractor-frame mounted on axles 48 supported on track wheels 49, 50; An engine 51 or other source of power is mounted on said frame and drives a drum 52 which actuates a belt 53 which embraces a drive pulley 54 fixed on the shaft 16. Said drum drives also a crossed belt 55 which embraces and drives a pulley 56 fixed on the shaft 19. It will be evident that, due to the crossed belt 55 the pulleys 54 and 56 rotate in contrary directions and that, therefore, the movement of the oppositely directed tamping bars 42 and feet 43 are both toward the tie,but on opposite sides thereof. 57 designates a friction-disk secured on the drum 52, and 58 indicates a friction wheel driven thereby and fixed on an inclined shaft 59 journaled in a bearing 60 and carrying a bevel-wheel 61 which meshes with and drives a bevel spur 62 fixed on the wheel 50.

63 indicates a lever pivoted to the shaft 59 and adapted to move the friction-wheel 58 and bevel-wheel 61 into and out of operative positions. The structural peculiarities of the elements numbered 47 to 63 inclusive are immateriahare not specifically and require no explicit description herein.

The operation: Assume the engine 51 to be driving the drum 52 and thereby the belts 53- 55 and pulleys 54, 56 to thereby actuate the shafts 16 and 19 and thereby the pinions ii? and 31 respectively. These pinions trans- :nit motion through the spurs 29, 33 to the cranleshafts 14," 14f and they to the legs 38 and; thereby tothe 'tampingbars 42 and feet 43. The rocker-links 40, 44 cause the pins 41, 45 to move in arcs, and the movements thereof and of the tampingbars are as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. Should or any other obstruction the spring 39 will yield against the force exerted by;' the crank-arm, elimi- The ballast sides of the to that done will be tamped evenly at both he and 111 a manner superlor manually, for the pressure on both sides of the tie is simultaneous and even, while that of hand-tamping is necessarily the contrary.

To throw either side of the machine into or out of operation the proper one of the shift yoke-s may be slid in its bearings (Fig. 2) to move the adjacent driving pinion 27 or 31 into or out of gear with the spur wheel with which it was meshed. The machine may be propelled by means of the engine, the drum 52, friction wheel 58, shaft 59, and bevel-gear 61, 62, and this propelling mechanism may be thrown into or out of operative positions by means of the lever 63 The friction wheel 58 is shown as in neutral or inoperative position.

For transportation from place to place the rear frame and all parts secured thereto may be swung forwardly on the pivot 46 onto the forward frame, whereon they may be carried.

For the purposes of this specification each of the two forward and each of the two rear sets of tamping means may be termed a g g It has not been thought either necessary or best to encumber this specification and the accompanying drawings with illustrations of modifications which are not essential to the invention, viewed in its broadest aspect, for numerous such changes would, after the preceding disclosures, present themselves to a skilled mechanic.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, a drive-shaft, a pulley, means for driving it, a second drive-shaft, means for driving it in a direction contrary to that of the one first recited, a drivingpinion on the first recited shaft, a spurwheel normally in mesh with said pinion, means for throwing said pinion and spurwheel into or out of engagement, a drivingpinion on the second recited shaft, a spurwheel normally in mesh therewith, means for throwing them into or out of engagement, a plurality of crank-shafts driven each by one of said spur-Wheels, and gangs of tamping-elements driven each by one of said spur-wheels.

2. Incombination, a pair of multiplecrank shafts, their axes arranged in substantial parallelism, means for driving them in opposite-directions, legs pivoted on each of said shafts, tamping-elements pivoted one to each of said legs, a rocker-arm shaft, rocker-arms pivoted thereon and pivotally engaged with said legs, a second rocker shaft, and rocker-arms pivoted thereon and pivotally connected with said tamping elements.

3. Inia tamping-machine, a crank-shaft, a log, a journal-box mounted on said shaft and having a socket, a rod secured in said socket, a hollow leg rcciprocable on said rod, a spring embracing said rod and arranged icence intermediate said socket and leg, and a tamping element connected with said leg.

4C. In combination, a drive-shaft, a pulley, a second drive-shaft, means for driving it in a direction contrary to that of the one first recited, a driving-pinion on the first recited shaft, a spur-wheel normally in mesh with said pinion, shifting means for throwing said pinion and spur into or out of engagement, a drivingrpinion on the second recited shaft, a spur-wheel normally in mesh therewith, shifting means for throwing them into or out of engagement, a crankshaft having oppositely arranged crankarnis, driven by one of said spurs, a crank shaft having oppositely arranged crankarms and driven by the other spu r, and

tamping elements carried one on each arm of each of said crank-shafts.

5. Ina tamping machine, a crank-shaft, a leg actuable thereby, a tamping-bar, a pin pivotally connecting said leg and bar, and parallel rocker-arms one of which is pivoted to said leg and the other to said pin.

5. In a tamping machine, a crank-shaft, means for actuating it, a leg actuable by said shaft, a tamping bar connected to and driven by said leg, and parallel rocker-arms adapted to guide and control the movements of said leg and ban In testimony whereof I hereto aiiiz: my signature this 12th day 01"" November, 1915.

WALTER L. PIERCE. 

